{{snicker}} Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has announced a decision to delay a Commerce Department decision on Aluminum until sometime before November 30th.

…”Commerce said it would issue its preliminary determination in the aluminum foil case – along with a decision on China’s non-market economy status – by Nov. 30. A final duty determination is expected 75 days later.”…

When you analyze the Trump Doctrine, using economics as leverage for national security objectives, it becomes easier to understand the ebb, flow and timing of Wilbur Ross trade determinations. Economics, trade policy and national security objectives are all connected.

WASHINGTON(Reuters) – The U.S. Commerce Department said on Thursday it would defer issuing its preliminary determination in an anti-dumping duty probe into imports of aluminum foil from China.

The department said in a statement the delay would allow it “to fully analyze information pertaining to China’s status as a non-market economy (NME) country.”

U.S. aluminum foil producers have filed petitions with the U.S. government accusing Chinese manufacturers of dumping the product in the United States. In 2016, imports of aluminum foil from China were valued at an estimated $389 million, department figures show.

In August, U.S. Commerce imposed preliminary anti-subsidy duties of about 17 percent to 81 percent on aluminum foil imported from China.

The Aluminum Association, a U.S. industry lobby group which filed the suit, was disappointed by the delay, but remained confident in the strength of its case, President and Chief Executive Officer Heidi Brock said in a statement.

When it opened the probe in late March, the Commerce Department said it was also launching a review of whether China should be treated as a market economy country, a designation that would effectively limit the calculation of anti-dumping duties on Chinese-made goods..

The terms of China’s accession to the World Trade Organization in 2001 allowed other WTO members to use a third country’s prices to assess whether Chinese goods were being sold below cost or fair market value.

That clause expired last December and China has called on the United States and the European Union to drop their use of such surrogate pricing, which has led to higher U.S. anti-dumping duties on imported Chinese goods.

“In all cases, the Department conducts a full and fair assessment of the facts,” Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in a statement. “This extension will ensure that the highest standards are followed in this case as we seek to guarantee fair treatment for U.S. workers and businesses.”

Commerce said it would issue its preliminary determination in the aluminum foil case – along with a decision on China’s non-market economy status – by Nov. 30. A final duty determination is expected 75 days later. (read more)

Probabky way more than that amount. Al foil @ hts 7607 runs 3% to 5.8% duty (depending), so it is likely undervalued on entry to reduce cost to the importer (double invoicing), the shipper/manufactuer benefits because they avoid paying the full export tax. Yes, China has an export tax, which we do not have because the Constitution prohibits it (although a few years ago Congress enacted one until the Supreme Court said no

A few years ago there was a aerial image of a place in Mexico that had acre and acres of compacted aluminum cans being stored before shipment to China. That was the day I stopped recycling cans. When people got interested in the stockpile in Mexico the stock pile got moved and never seen again.
I decided I would rather give a future American the opportunity to find aluminum in the dump then send it to China.

The issue now is it a non-market economy (yes). That means it is basically a dumpster. And can be called out by countervailing duties to balance the trading transactions. China wants that lifted per WTO rules, so it can continue to subsidize their trade but be treated as though they are not.

Wilburine’s “Suspended Sledgehammer” kinda puts a damper on the upcoming Chinese Communist Party Congress that was about to celebrate giving Xi a 5 year extension during its every-five-year session beginning October 18th.

All they’ll know is Xi has allowed the NORKS to put em in a YUGE economic no-man’s land facing U.S. trade fines, international banking sanctions and a potential trade war that would sink their economy.

I’m nervous about our President Trump visiting China, for his own safety. The Ross’s delay strategy will help guarantee President Trump to come back home safely-I feel better now, but will still ‘hold my breath’ during that time and on my worn-out knees praying.

May Our Heavenly Father be with our President Trump at all times protecting him.

sure wish some spouting that fantasy would read their US CONSTITUTION…….Jr has the same problem as Bammy Cruz Rubio Jindal and the rest of Trump’s children EXCEPT Barron have…..they are INELIGIBLE for POTUS and VPOTUS under Article 1 Section i Clause 5 qualifications…..you have to be a natural born citizen and all listed are NOT

I wonder if Wilbur Ross knows Treepers call him “Wilburine”? And does Rex Tillerson know about T-Rex? The names used here, like deep state and swamp, are now in fairly common usage among right leaning media. Even the WSJ, no friend to the Trump Administration, is using terms I first heard here. This is new.

So I wonder how long it will take the mainstream business press, like the WSJ, to catch on to the Magnanimous Panda strategy. Economic leverage is something taught in B-school strategy classes – at least it was years ago when I took a class. It’s brilliant and requires precise coordination among all the leverage wielders, like Ross delaying the aluminum decision.

I still pray for President Trump and his family and his administration, that they be kept safe. And if they are not Christian believers, may God send them the grace to become believers.

many of the ministers who DJT has kept in contact with over the last 2 years say there is a renewing of spirit in him over the course of the campaign and believe he IS born again and gets spiritual guidance in most of his decisions

I want to see more politically astute and devoted Believers in his circle of top advisors. I believe Tillerson is one, but not sure, and you never know about how much their faith walk actually influences their decisions. Thank God for Sekulow. You know he gets a lot of pushback.

Yes, definitely a GREAT post. No apologies necessary. The pics that Sundance posts are just amazing. These pictures are worth thousands of words each. I read the article, look at the picture, and wow, instant knowledge!

Sundsnce (or another Treeper), can you explain the “non-market economy status”? If China is deemed a non-market economy, do they lose most favored nation status? What affect does acquiring non-market economy status have vs losing US most favored nation status? Are they two different levels/layers of economic leverage that we a can wield against China?

Under the legal structure of the World Trade Organization, the designation of China as a “non-market economy” allows its trading partners, including the United States, to use a special framework to determine whether China’s exports are being sold at unfairly low prices and, if that is found to be the case, to apply additional anti-dumping duties. Since 2001, China has been subject to a special presumption that it is a non-market economy (NME) under Article 15 of the protocol by which China joined the World Trade Organization (WTO). This presumption expired on December 11, 2016, and China believes that it must now be accorded market economy status. The U.S. argues that China is not automatically eligible for market economy status and has commenced a procedure to determine, under U.S. domestic law, whether China is still a non-market economy.
At the core of the issue is whether China may be subjected to more stringent treatment than other countries in calculating anti-dumping duties.

Perhaps it’s time to educate the French appeasers and German self loathers and conclude a great trade pact with the UK to applaud the MUKGA agenda. Our oldest ally and only cultural compatriot in Europe.

I don’t understand how we win here. If China changes foreign policy, then are we supposed to allow their trade Imbalance, product dumping, and all the rest? North Korea is not as important as our economy.

Smithfield Foods, producer of the iconic holiday ham, was one of America’s flagship food companies, steeped in centuries of U.S. tradition.

The Virginia-based pork company derived its ham from a curing process Native Americans taught settlers five centuries ago. It owned part of Main Street in the bucolic town of Smithfield – including a restaurant, a historic Southern hotel and the company’s nearby headquarters.

But in 2013, a Chinese firm bought this quintessential slice of Americana – Main Street and all. The takeover, valued at $7.1 billion, remains the largest-ever Chinese acquisition of an American company.